Table Mountain fires: Man arrested on suspicion of arson

Tough afternoon ahead for Cape Town's fire crews.

The firefighting authorities of Cape Town are currently battling with several separate blazes on the north-facing side of Table Mountain after it was confirmed that a suspect has been arrested for arson.

The fires were spotted on the famous landmark around 12:00. Fire and rescue crews have since been hard at work trying to quell the fires, including helicopters which are currently water-bombing the affected areas.

Theo Layne is a spokesperson for Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services. He was able to relay more information to us about what’s happened and how the city is organising itself to get the inferno under control:

“This is a case of suspected arson. Someone has already been arrested and they are currently in custody. We’ve got two fire engines up there, a water tanker, helicopter services and water bombs. We’re being assisted by the Table Mountain National Park staff, and have firefighters on the ground tacking the fire too.”

Where exactly is the fire?

Mayco member for public safety JP Smith told News 24 that the suspect “was screaming his head off and was clearly at the location where the four fires started.”

This is the second major blaze that has hit Table Mountain in the last 10 weeks. Brave Cape Town firefighter Candice Kruger lost her life when she was part of a crew that kept the veld-fires from spreading.

With the fires breaking out underneath the cable car route, the fire and rescue teams will have to ensure that visitors are helped out of harm’s way.